Here’s the press release from the National Health Action Party, announcing that TV comic Rufus Hound will be a candidate for them in this year’s European Parliament elections.

Vox Political reported, late last year, how Rufus spoke passionately and eloquently on the BBC’s News Quiz about his fears for the future of the National Health Service under the Conservative-led Coalition government.

Rufus Hound will exclusively [exclusively? it’s all over the Interweb!] reveal he plans to run as an MEP for the National Health Action Party.

The actor, comedian and TV presenter, who’s currently rehearsing with Robert Lindsay for the upcoming West End play Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, is a well known NHS supporter and in a recent episode of the News Quiz on Radio 4 he launched a blistering attack on the government’s privatisation of the NHS.

Tonight [January 25], he’ll tell Jonathan Ross:

“I think I’m going to run as an MEP (Member of European Parliament). I’m going to run for the NHA (National Health Action Party) because the NHS is being privatised. The NHA is run by doctors and they’re not people who want to be politicians. I don’t want to run as an MEP, I really don’t. I want to dick about with this man (Robert Lindsay) because that’s a lot more fun, but I’m looking around for who is stepping forward and telling people about it and nobody is.”

The National Health Action Party was launched by doctors, health care workers and ordinary people just over a year ago in opposition to the government’s sneaky privatisation of the NHS and amid warnings of the disastrous impact of the government’s NHS reforms.

On Thursday one of our founding members, Dr Louise Irvine, who helped lead the successful campaign against Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to save Lewisham Hospital, announced she was standing to be an MEP for London in May’s euro elections.

Dr Louise Irvine said today:

“I’m absolutely thrilled that Rufus Hound has offered to stand for the NHA in the London euro election. It’s fantastic that he’s prepared to take action to help defend our NHS at a time when it’s in grave danger. Together we can alert the public to the gravity of the threat to the NHS from this government with its programme of cuts, hospital closures and privatisation and to send a powerful message to politicians in Westminster and Brussels that people will not stand by and let their NHS be destroyed.

“It’s scandalous that most people don’t even realise that the government’s Health Act removed its “duty to provide” healthcare for you and your children.

“We also want to raise awareness of the imminent danger posed to the NHS by the EU/US trade agreement which will allow American companies to carve up the NHS and make the privatisation process irreversible.”

The NHA Party is led by the former independent MP for Wyre Forest, Dr Richard Taylor, who won a seat in two successive general elections over a local hospital issue, and by oncologist and co-chair of the NHS Consultants’ Association, Dr Clive Peedell.

Dr Clive Peedell said today:

“Rufus is so passionate and knowledgeable about the NHS and I’m delighted that he shares our view that the Coalition’s NHS reforms will transform a cost-effective public system of health care into one that will be more expensive, inefficient and unequal, wasting billions of pounds of tax payers’ money to implement while making patient care worse and corroding public trust in the NHS. With Rufus on board, we hope to spread that message far and wide.

“The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats outrageously broke their pre-election pledges that there would be no top down re-organisation of the NHS and no NHS privatisation. Yet this is precisely what their legislation and reforms are doing. There has been a shocking failure of democracy.

“We set up the National Health Action Party because we believe the NHS is under so much threat from commercialisation and privatisation, in which the Labour Party was complicit. We believe that a new political party is needed to defend the NHS and its values.

“None of us want to be politicians, but we have no choice but to engage with the political process to raise awareness of these crucial issues, which affect everyone in this country.

“A strong electoral result will put pressure on the Government to reverse its damaging reforms and exempt the NHS from the catastrophic EU/US Free Trade Agreement. The very survival of the NHS is at stake.”

Geraldine, are you sure there is such a thing as a celeb with standards? The majority are self serving self promoting individuals, somewhat shallow, and relatively unintelligent. Similar to most UK MPs. However there’s always the exception and it’s my fervent hope that Rufus will be just that. This Fascist coalition is brought to book and banished to the wastelands they richly deserve. The public are being fed a raft of deceit half truths and obtuse facts in fact bull dust.

Much as I admire your intention to stand as an MEP in order to protest against cuts to the NHS, I question whether you have thought through what is your attempting to achieve. A protest vote? Yes, of course.

The NHS is built upon the current medical paradigm however the current paradigm is a failing concept. The numbers of people requiring treatment in the NHS each year continues to increase year upon year and threatens the ability of successive governments to provide improved living standards.

Consider, the ability of the doctor which is intended to provide a first line way of diagnosing of treating disease yet the numbers of patients returning every month for repeat consultations and repeat drug prescriptions illustrate that the GP is only abt 25-40% effective. Then there is the tests. You think that they are 100% accurate. I have news for you….their accuracy ranges from abt 25-90%. Then there is the drugs. Of course you think that they are 100% effective. I have news for you. They are not. Far from it in fact. The effectiveness of drugs ranges from abt 10-90%. The average being abt 50%. Why so? Because the basic understanding of the processes are not god enough.

Every drug depends for its effect upon the autonomic nervous system. The understanding of the autonomic nervous system is everything. If you want to improve the service being provided by the NHS then it does not involve spending more. It involves spending better.

I’m happy to make myself available. Look me up on LinkedIn…..Graham Ewing.

I am neither Rufus Hound nor the National Health Action Party – although you can find them on Facebook easily enough.

Regarding your comments about the NHS, I would point out that the model to which the Conservative-led government has been moving is bad for patients across England (and, in fact, beyond) because it means only those services that are profitable will be provided by the private providers. The remainder is being left to the public service, but with no funds (those are being eaten by the privates). Result: Loss of services across the country.

I have been looking for a party that I can vote for and am also happy to join. Most new political parties start off as a pressure group in the first instance, but evolve into a fully fledged party when they gain the support of the people.
The strategy being you win your first battle then you move on to win the war.
I have had first hand experience of how the NHS has declined over the Past decade due to budget cuts and the centralisation of services, that are now so far away from the community that they pro port to serve.
I also have grave reservations that GP practices will be come business pushing paper around rather than spending their time on patients. Why is it that local hospitals much cherished by the community are allowed to close in a democracy.
we also have so called failing Hospitals & Schools mainly because each successive government has implemented change based on ideology rather than what meets the communities needs.

“One Size does not fit All” should be the starting point

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